Mark Foley’s Father Dies

WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA – Ed Foley, a longtime educator and father of former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, has died. He was 85.Foley, who had been ill with cancer, died Tuesday, said Gale Schiffman, co-owner of Quattlebaum-Holleman-Burse Funeral Home.A Massachusetts native, Edward Foley moved to Florida in the 1950s. He was a teacher and principal who frequently campaigned on his son’s behalf.The younger Foley gained national attention this fall when, in the waning weeks of his campaign for re-election, the congressman was confronted with sexually explicit messages he sent to teenage pages who worked on Capitol Hill.Mark Foley resigned Sept. 29. State and federal authorities are investigating whether he broke any laws.Mark Foley abandoned a bid for the U.S. Senate in 2003 after his father was diagnosed with cancer. His decision to bow out of the race also came shortly after an alternative newspaper reported that Mark Foley was gay. Foley denounced the allegations as rumors spread by his political opponents, but he refused to answer questions about whether he was homosexual.He has been in a treatment center in Arizona for alcoholism since Oct. 1, according to his attorneys.from The Associated Press